Rep. Nick Lorusso, author of House Bill 475, has indicated that he plans to amend the measure so that a portion of revenue now dedicated to levees will go instead to the Non-Flood Protection Asset Management Authority, the panel that oversees the old Orleans Levee District's land holdings.

An initial draft called for grabbing 20 percent of the revenue from a levee millage, or $4.3 million per year. Members of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East said that in subsequent discussions with Rep. Lorusso, the lawmaker has said he plans to seek a lesser amount.

But when it comes to flood protection, any attempt to raid this region's defenses is unacceptable and must be rejected. If lawmakers don't see that, Gov. Bobby Jindal should make it clear that he will veto the measure.

There's a terrible irony in going after flood protection dollars to prop up non-flood assets. After all, the land holdings were themselves intended to generate revenue for flood protection. To put tax dollars for levee improvement under the control of the non-flood board -- appointed by Orleans Parish legislators -- would be a return to the patronage-ridden past. It would also harm the Flood Protection Authority's ability to improve the system or even keep it from deteriorating in the future.

The Flood Protection Authority's mission is clear -- it is flood control. Voters who overwhelmingly supported the new consolidated levee districts after Hurricane Katrina, including more than 90 percent of New Orleans voters, understood how critical that focus is. Authority members are right to insist on maintaining it.

That's not to say that the two authorities can't work together when their interests converge. Indeed, the Flood Protection Authority has shown a willingness to relieve the non-flood panel of its financial burdens where it can legitimately do so. Last month, it offered to take responsibility for maintaining Lakeshore Drive and, with some reductions, the police officers that patrol it. That offer was made based on Lakeshore's value as a flood protection asset -- and on the condition that no bills harmful to the Flood Protection Authority pass the Legislature.

Late last week, Flood Protection Authority Chairman Tim Doody and member John Barry met with the head of the Non-Flood Authority, John Lupo, and made another offer. This one called for the Non-Flood Authority to maintain Lakeshore Drive on a contract basis, with the Flood Protection Authority to pay it $700,000 a year. That offer was contingent on Rep. Lorusso pulling his amendment.

Unfortunately, no agreement was reached, and now Rep. Lorusso's damaging legislation is headed for a committee hearing.

Eliot Kamenitz, The Times-PicayuneState Sen. J.P. Morrell

The struggle between these two authorities proves how unwise the Legislature was to create the Non-Flood Authority in the first place -- an effort pushed by Derrick Shepherd in 2007, who was then a state senator but is now serving time in federal prison for corruption.

The constitutional amendment that abolished the Orleans Levee Board provided a method for dealing with the old levee district's land holdings. In fact, the flood authority and the state Division of Administration were working on a plan to divide those assets up among existing agencies when the Legislature created the Non-Flood Authority.

The fear was that the new panel would create a patronage bonanza. But the reality is even worse: a blatant grab at flood protection money and interference in flood control work. Earlier this year, the Non-Flood Authority threatened to go to court to block construction of pump stations in the city's three outfall canals -- a reckless move that could have delayed the project.

The Flood Protection Authority stepped in and voted to grant the Corps of Engineers access, under the reasoning that it controls flood-related assets. That was the responsible thing to do. But even that has resulted in political payback. Sen. J.P. Morrell has authored Senate Concurrent Resolution 8, which calls for the Flood Protection Authority to set aside $25 million in case legal claims arise from the work.

Such a fund is not necessary and only serves to take more money away from the critical mission of flood protection.

Add to that House Bill 476, which seeks to compel the Flood Protection Authority to pay a legal settlement to Bohemia Spillway landowners by a certain date, and it's easy to see why the authority feels under assault.

Rep. Tim Burns, author of HB 476, told Ruthie Frierson of Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans that he does not intend to advance the bill. "While I think the levee board should pay its just debts, it was never my intent to impede flood protection,'' he wrote in an email.

That's reassuring, but unfortunately other lawmakers don't seem to share that priority. They need to hear from their constituents, loudly and clearly, that flood protection comes first. This issue doesn't only affect New Orleans residents, but those who live in St. Bernard and the east bank of Jefferson Parish. Lawmakers who represent those areas should realize what diminished resources might mean for the safety of their constituents.

It's been less than six years since the catastrophic failure of our flood protection system in the face of Hurricane Katrina. The promise of 100-year protection, made in the wake of that failure, is only now being fulfilled and is a low standard at that.

It's unfathomable that levee officials are having to struggle with lawmakers from Orleans Parish, where most people flooded and died, to maintain their mission.